Montana Woman Needs Some Cheer. Have You Dealt With A Grinch?
It's less than a week away from Christmas and stores are busting at the seams with last-minute shoppers. Here in Bozeman, where we have seen a decrease in employees, it shouldn't be surprising that the wait times in line will be longer than one may be used to.
The other day I was shopping for a few last-minute gifts and as I was waiting in line, which was about 7 people deep, it became very uncomfortable very quickly.
As we are all waiting patiently in line to check out, it is obvious that this store is short-staffed, but the young lady that was at the checkout was friendly and moving as quickly as she could. This isn't the first time I have had this specific young lady and per usual, she was doing a great job!
Also waiting in line was a woman who was purchasing a pair or two of socks and a tiny bag of some sort of candy. I was standing remotely close to her, and after her huffing and puffing loudly for a minute or two she finally said "Do you think you could call another cashier or something?"
I literally felt my jaw drop. Then I kind of looked around and saw that I wasn't the only one in shock. Now the sweet young lady checking everyone out said, "I can try", to which the Huffy Puffy woman said, "yeah that would be great".
Fast forward a few minutes and no one showed up to help the young lady out. Now Huffy Puffy was really annoyed now, I mean she did have to wait 3 more minutes and still hasn't gotten what she wanted. She yells again to the young lady, "do you think you could try again (with an eye roll)?".
The young lady, still keeping her cool replies, "well there isn't really anyone else working so I'm not sure what you want me to do. It's just me and one other girl". Huffy Puffy did NOT like this.
Another 2 minutes go by and employee number 2 shows up to the front to help check people out. Smiley and cheerful, she scanned Huffy Puffy's socks and candy and smiled the whole time.
Once Huffy Puffy was out the door, I said to the young lady, "I just want to say, I think you are doing an amazing job". She smiled and said, "thank you, I just don't know what people expect me to do, I mean I can't make people work".
This made me wonder how many times a day these employees have to deal with people like Huffy Puffy on a daily basis. I mean, it is the week of Christmas, and I am just happy there are people working long hours to accommodate my procrastination.
To all the employees busting their butts this holiday season, THANK YOU.